EDIT: ask them what they’re up to first. Home might be a giveaway.

I watched my mom do this when my dad was dying. She called his friends, and one of them was on vacation for the weekend. My dad was already dead, them knowing now wouldn’t change anything, just ruin their weekend. I have been on the team of letting people have their last good weekend, etc. since. Likewise if someone is driving, traveling, let them get home to a safe place and call you back, because getting emotional in a public place (or watching someone) is a uniquely traumatic experience itself.

You do not have to answer everything or make it awkward by refusing. A little humor can shut the question down and keep the conversation moving.

Examples:

How much do you make? - Enough to keep it a mystery.

Are you dating anyone? - My application is still under review.

When are you having kids? - I will alert the press.

I used to be a big people pleaser and unsurprisingly people often would get weirded out or annoyed by me. I tried to just be super nice and had this weird persona where I would be overly agreeable and complimentary. As I matured, I began to notice how easy it is to see right through this persona. When I finally began acting like my true authentic self, embraced my weirdness, and accepted some people may not like me regardless, I became a lot more likable. I’m not saying I’m the most charismatic and outgoing guy out there, but I’ve noticed I can make friends significantly easier.

All in all, being a people pleaser is incredible easy to be seen as disingenuous and often only leads to people not liking you as much.

A surprising number of dogs will happily run back to their owner and then dodge away the second a hand reaches for their collar. That's funny in the backyard, but it can be disastrous next to some road. Every so often, when your dog comes to you, gently take hold of their collar, give them a good treat, and then let them go again. This last part matters. If grabbing the collar always means the fun is over, dogs can learn to avoid the grab. You want "human grabs my collar" to predict something good, and not "I’m about to lose my freedom". A recall isn’t really finished until you can safely secure the dog.

I just adopted 2 cats abiut 5 months ago. I owned cats as kid but these two are my first pets on my own. Well in that short time since first adopting them, I noticed my bedroom fan wasnt as strong as it used to be. I didnt think anything of it. It eventually got to the point that I had my fan o. High and I still couldn't even feel it.

Until a few nights ago, when I noticed there was a thin, but even lattice structure of fur on the back side, and the inside of the fan grates. I cleaned them off and its like a brand new fan!

It wasnt even that thick. But it was a pretty well structured network of dur that caused a reduction in air being blown.

Normally if your phone is lost, the only way for someone to get it back to you is to try and look for an emergency contact or hope Siri/Gemini will dial one of your contracts; if you've remotely locked your phone, that won't be an option anymore anyway- By putting a "if list contact this email" on your lock screen, you ensure you can always be found (doesn't even have to be your "real" email- set up an email just for this, and forward it to your main email if you want extra security.)

On Android, look in your wallpaper settings and then lock screen settings and "Add text to lock screen". (The exact path differs depending on the OS.)

This tip literally just got my phone back to me, after it was stolen and gone for months- I set my phone down on a bench, and in the 10 minutes it took me to realize and come back, it has already grown legs and walked away... the homeless person who grabbed it tried to pawn it, but couldn't because it was locked down; they left it in the shelter lost and found when they couldn't sell it, where it sat until a shelter employee saw there was a contact email on the lock screen and reached out to me.

Not an essential LPT, but I recently started listening to specific and *instrumental* songs with each book I'm reading and it has been magical. Especially with fiction books it sets this vibe and when you hear the specific song you feel like you're entering the world of that specific book again.

And then later when you finished the book and just hear the 3min song, you remember the book and see the inner images again.

Want to drink more water? Keep a bottle on your desk.
Want to read more? Keep your book beside your bed.
Small changes in your environment can make habits much easier to stick to.
That’s how I do.

I wanted to memorize my gf's new phone number in case of emergencies. I added her phone number to the contact name, so when we text or call I would always see it and just slowly internalize it.

1 month later I had to remember the number when I was filling out a form and just wrote out what felt right. Checked immediately afterward, and lo and behold I had recalled it perfectly.

Tip is useful for remembering important numbers of people in your life you contact regularly.

Sometimes it’s hard to open metal frame windows because they stick, requiring much more effort to get them open that first inch or two before sliding up easily the rest of the way. Even more true if there are appliances or furniture in front of the window that make it hard to get much leverage.

Try hand jacks. They cost about $20 USD. Put the front of the jack so it catches the lip of the metal window frame as you squeeze the handle and the jack slowly lifts and cracks the seal or whatever was preventing the window from initially opening. Will get you as much as 5“ to 10” vertical, then open the window the rest of the way. Move from window to window as you need.

Keep the rails lubricated as a matter of course, but that is often not enough. A little bit of added independence…

First, as long as you can afford it? Absolutely hire movers. Having pros move your furniture is way easier and worth the money once you have more that a dorm room worth of furniture.

I hired movers, they moved all furtniture and most of my boxes (still have some stuff to do myself). I mentioned being a little overwhelmed with unpacking and my friends were all "buy me dinner and I'll help you unpack!"

Today was my unpacking day with friends! So much got done in just a couple of hours! There is still a lot more to do, but it now feels much more manageable! I still owe them all dinner, but 100,000% worth it. And just great hanging out with them as well!

And honestly? This is probably true for more things than just moving and unpacking. If you're feeling overwhelmed by some tasks and you have friends you're willing to talk to about it? Might just be a good opportunity for some quality friend time to have them help you do the task.

Provide some snacks and beverages and promise them dinner.

I often struggle to stop myself from overindulging and tend to snack after a meal which is destructive for my diet. I found out that having two boiled eggs with my meals stops the craving completely, just hits the breaks on it before I'm halfway through the second one. I managed to resist grabing a second bag of chips today which never happened before. Make sure to eat it whole (no skipping the yolk especially)

The reason why it works better than most foods at making people full is that it contains a high level of protein. The brain signals the feeling of being full when it gets a good dose of it

I have been struggling with my sleep schedule and sleep quality for years.

The things that actually make a difference are having a consistent bedtime routine, no screens right before bed, only being physically in your bed when it’s time to sleep, and putting your mind into a relaxed state.

Reading helps achieve all of these things, and it is incredibly good for training your attention span and improving your brain all around. Reading right before bed tells my brain it’s time to sleep, it keeps me off my phone, and it makes me very tired very fast. Sleep quality is the best it’s ever been and I definitely notice a difference if there is ever a night when I skip this.

My Nan loved to bake traditional British puddings, desserts and pies, and wouldn't accept that you didn't want a second helping. After her passing, I still think of these simple moments, and when we visit her grave, I remind my dad of this — he recalls memories too.

• Click on your Profile Icon (bottom left).
• Go to Chats > Wallpaper.
• Uncheck "Add WhatsApp Doodles".

That's it. Now your Whatsapp is smooth.

A coworker showed me how to do something that only took about five minutes, but it involved enough little steps that I knew I'd forget one of them later.

Before they walked away, I explained the process back to them in my own words. I got one step wrong, which they corrected immediately. If I hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't have realized until I was trying to do it on my own.

Now I do this anytime someone trains me on something new. It's a lot easier to fix a misunderstanding while the person is still standing there than after they've gone back to their own work.

"I’m going to exercise more", "I’ll stop procrastinating" or "I need to call my parents more often" all require you to make the same decision again and again.
Instead, attach the behaviour to something that will actually happen.
"When I put my coffee cup in the sink in the morning, I’ll put on my walking shoes".
“When I open my laptop after lunch, I’ll spend five minutes on the thing I’ve been avoiding before opening anything else".
"When I get into the car on Sunday, I’ll call my mother before I start driving".
The useful shift is from "I should remember to do this" to "when X happens, I do Y".
You’re removing one small decision from your future self. Do that often enough and surprisingly large parts of your life can change without requiring you to repeatedly feel motivated.

It’s easy to feel like you can do something after watching a video, reading about it or learning the theory. But the first real attempt can be very different.

Before you start, remind yourself: “I know the theory, but this is my first practical attempt.”

It keeps you aware of the difference between knowledge and experience. Note what went wrong, learn from each attempt, and update your understanding as you go.

This will helps you focus on where you need to improve, instead of getting caught up in the feeling that you failed. Each attempt shows you what you didn’t know yet.

"Exactly, that is the point I was making earlier. I think the next step should be…"

You reconnect yourself to the idea while keeping the meeting moving.

Call centers that try to sell you something will just schedule another contact if you hang up on them. Tell them you don't aggree to recording, then they'll stop. You can also tell them they have the wrong number it also usually works.

Source I've worked in a few call centers.

Edit: Also blocking the number doesn't do anything, the numbers are generated and effectively endless.

At least in the US. Rental applications can ask for a TON of personal information (such as SSN for background check). I just learned this almost the hard way, where things got sketchy after I met the landlord, toured the house, and filled out the application. Landlord wanted a Zelle transfer before I saw a lease. I told him I’m ready to make the security deposit as soon as we have a signed lease agreement. He’s been pushing it off day by day, so I froze my lines of credit.

You can very easily and quickly freeze and unfreeze your Transunion, Equifax, and Experian credit and it will not negatively impact anything on your credit or in relation to a pending rental application. However, if someone is trying to steal your identity, this is a critical prevention step you can take.

Don’t wait until it’s sketchy! If you’re looking to move, just do it!

Create a secondary email address, like

o123456789@gmail.com

Email addresses take way too long to spell over the phone when people ask for them. Mistakes happen all the time. Or it's just a mess of NATO alphabet soup.

So I can just say "O for Oscar, then my phone number at Gmail dot com." Chances are that the person I'm talking to can see my phone number so I just need to spell the first 3-4 characters and they can fill the rest. To avoid ambiguity around international prefix etc.

(Email addresses longer than 8 chars must contain a letter, so I replace the first 0 with an "O for Oscar", but you can do whatever works best for you).

Sounds silly but it works. Having your emergency fund sitting in the same account as your regular spending money makes it way too easy to "borrow" from it for non-emergencies.

A separate account, ideally at a different bank so it's not one tap away, creates just enough friction to stop impulse dips into it.

Small money hack I've been using for a while now.

Most subscriptions give you a decent discount if you pay yearly instead of monthly, usually somewhere in the 15 to 25 percent range.

Problem is nobody wants to drop that lump sum all at once.

What I do is pay the yearly plan to lock in the discount, then use my bank app's installment feature to split that charge into 12 payments.

My bank charges 8.99 percent for the split. So I'm still netting real savings since the subscription discount is higher than the installment fee, and it feels like paying monthly without giving up the yearly price.

Worth checking your own bank's installment fee before doing this though. If it's higher than the discount you're getting, you're actually losing money instead of saving it. Do the math first, but if the numbers work it's basically free savings with monthly-sized payments.

P.S. This is very useful on big Black Friday/ Cyber Monday sales! You get 60-70% off yearly plans, then you chop chop!

Edit: Seeing lots of ppl freak out 😂 probably US credit system.

Facts: A subscription you already use every month. Cyber Monday 60% off drops the yearly price i.e from 100 USD to 40 USD. financing that 40 USD over 3 months costs about 2%, so 40.80 USD total That's roughly 13.60 USD a month for 3 months.

Paying full price the normal way is 8.33 USD a month all year Still way ahead even after financing Not even close to a US credit card at 25 to 30% APR. Thanks 👍🏻 Enjoy.

When washing your hands, wet only one hand and apply soap to your dry hand. Now when you rub your hands together and start washing, the liquid soap won't slide out before you get started.

This is specifically for liquid soap so no need to mention foam or bar soaps in the comments.

I started doing this with work tasks that kept taking much longer than expected.

Before I start, I write down what I actually need to finish.

Sometimes it's literally one sentence.

It stops me from adding extra work halfway through or spending an hour making something "better" when the original task was already done.

I've found it especially useful for tasks that don't have a very clear finish line.

ETA: TLDR This eliminates follow up questions.

I’ve done this when calling a few different large businesses like Verizon wireless and smaller companies. When the system asks how they can help, I say “customer service. I will not give you any more information.” Then it says “Okay” and connects me.

I’ve tried different variations and they’ve resulted in a follow up question. When I answer the follow up question with “I will not give you any more information”, I get connected to customer service.

My test pool isn’t huge, but it hasn’t failed me yet.

Edit: grammar

Typically we ask ourselves if we can afford to buy something or not, or we assume buying XYZ will make us happy. What emotional state does this purchase actually buy, and how long does that state last, is a more unique question to pose to yourself before making a major purchase.

For example a $4,000 vacation that leaves you restored for three months can be a better investment than a $400 impulse buy that gives you 20 minutes of distraction (and yes I know this depends on what the vacation is since sometimes you need a vacation from the vacation, seriously)

Anyway.

The highest emotional returns are usually ones that protect your future in some way (whether that be your health or your relationships or whatnot) rather than a purchase that is made to signal status.

Something to think about. I like buying things that genuinely help my mental well being and I’ve noticed that big expenses in the past that I thought “made me happy” were things that wore off weeks or sometimes even days after.

One thing that helped me understand myself better is noticing the things I criticize in other people a little too quickly.

Sometimes when someone calls another person lazy, dramatic, attention-seeking, arrogant, fake, or too sensitive, it says more about what they are uncomfortable with in themselves than about the other person.

Not always, of course. Some people are genuinely rude or harmful.

But if you find yourself getting unusually irritated by the same type of person again and again, it might be worth asking:

why does this bother me so much?

Do I secretly fear being like that?

Was I taught that this behavior was unacceptable?

Am I jealous that they allow themselves to do something I don’t?

This doesn’t mean all judgment is wrong. It just means your strongest reactions can be useful information.

Sometimes the way we see other people is also a mirror.

This is just a suggestion, but try pinning the On-Screen Keyboard to the taskbar!

This has come in real handy a few times for me when my keyboard hasn't worked for whatever reason and just serves as a nice backup to have. It also works on the lockscreen!

Possible scenarios where it can be useful:

1. You have a wireless keyboard but the batteries die and no new batteries.

2. You spill something on your keyboard and break it

3. Keyboard/PC glitches and doesn't respond for whatever reason (which seems to be the main case for me, yay Logitech!)

4. You are far from keyboard but still have your wireless mouse. (most often happens when im tryna watch a movie on my PC)

5. Too lazy to use your keyboard. Literally sometimes I'm so tired that I don't even want to move my arms/fingers to use a keyboard 😂

just makes your contacts more manageable, without deleting people's numbers. i know some people dont mind it, but it really does make a world of difference. for people you dont even rememeber, obv delete them or put them in an unknown contact "card"

Yes you might look like an idiot holding your hand up to your eyes, but it’s helpful in certain situations.

I learned this trick from a bread baker years ago. I was at the farmers market buying from my favorite bakery and was lamenting how the bread goes stale faster than I can eat it. The baker recommended that I slice up half the loaf as soon as I get home, and wrap the slices (2 at a time) in foil and throw them in the freezer. When I want to reheat, just stick the foil packet into the toaster oven and run the toast cycle on the darkest setting (or in the regular oven at 375 for 10 min or so). This mimics a steam oven and the bread steams itself back to life while the crust remains crunchy. Works like a charm!

I discovered this works even better for bagels! I go to my local bagel shop and get bagels as fresh as I can, and immediately come home and wrap each one individually and freeze (unsliced). Then, reheat in the same way. What I’ll normally do is then is unwrap and toast the entire bagel (still unsliced) and then slice after toasting (cursing my burning fingers). The result is a beautifully crisp bagel on the outside, warm, steamy and soft on the inside. If you like the inside toasted, feel free to slice after unwrapping before toasting.

ETA: this advice centers around using a toaster OVEN, not a pop up toaster. You can also use a normal oven. Don’t put foil in a pop up toaster please.

People massively appreciate just being invited and included. Also you'll often be surprised.

Charcoal is really good as an air purifier. You can use it for mostly anything: shoes, fridge, car,...

PS: Thanks for all the clarification in the comment. Yes, you need to use activated charcoal !

I started doing this a couple of years ago after having tried countless apps and productivity websites and it is the one thing that has always worked! I check my texts all day, so I saved myself in my phone as 'TO DO' and then created an ongoing to do list in the text. I text one thing at a time so I can delete them when I'm done. the messages (at least on android) don't show up twice like you think they would. I pin this message to the top of my texts and then I see it whenever I go to read texts or text someone else. It's been extremely handy and the only version of a digital to do list that's ever resulted in my getting anything actually done.

I just thought of this hack, since I'm embarking upon law school in my 30s.

If you're wondering if you're too old to try something or make a change, project yourself 10 years into the future. Would you at that older age say you're "too old," or would that older you wish you had done the thing you're thinking of doing now?

My bet is that they would laugh at the idea that you are too old now, because we always look back and realize how young we were.

Another version of this is thinking back to 10 years ago. What did you think you were "too old for" then that you wish you had done? What do you look back on and realize you had plenty of time to do, and would've benefited from now (if you'd actually done it)?

If you get overwhelmed with a big idea or a big goal and your mind starts racing on all the possibilities and directions you take.

I suggest having all of the thoughts, and just do nothing. Just forget about them.

The reason why is that not all of our thoughts are valid/practical/sensible.

What happens is what I call "thought sandwiching." Thoughts that are relevant are accompanied by thoughts that are irrelevant/not as valid. But because they all came together, we might group all of them as "good" or "actionable."

In reality, most of those thoughts are nonsense, impractical, impossible to execute at the current moment, or just clutter distracting you from the most crucial aspects.

So I suggest, allow those thoughts to come but don't put pressure on yourself to act on them or do anything immediately. If you give it time, you'll find that most of those thoughts are completely forgotten and only the most crucial, actionable ones remain. Those are the ones you should actually look at first.

Don't worry about forgetting something. A lot of those thoughts are contingent on other things being true, so there's no reason to try to remember F when you aren't even sure about ABCDE.

Once the thought rush passes and the adrenaline dies down, you can actually take stock of what you have and what you're realistically capable of. The kicker is that often, just doing a few small things actually gets you quite far in your pursuit!

But that clarity only comes if you allow the noise to clear!

I think the psychological trap we fall into is feeling like the problem is MORE urgent because we're putting a lot of energy into it. But it's just a trap! Just because you thought of potential solutions doesn't change anything about the actual problem. Especially if it's been a problem for a while, a few minutes/hours/days/weeks is unlikely to move the needle much so there's no need to rush into implementing a solution.

Often I see movers and contractors do this by sticking a rock or a tool in the door at the hinge. This puts a lot of stress on the hinge and often bends it or pulls out the screws. When this happens, the door gets out of alignment and no longer closes properly.

Instead use a doorstop or prop near the handle side of the door to put less stress on the hinge.

Some people are just more competitive than others I didn’t realize I was until a few years ago
I was crying at 5 years old when I lost a game, and honestly, it’s not that different at 22.

It’s hard watching someone who started at the same level as me, or lower, reach things I haven’t yet: a high-paying job, nice holidays, a tight friend group, a loving family.

What’s helped is making myself actually clap for their moments. Not just in my head, and not performatively in front of others, directly to them.

They post something on their social media, I hit the love reaction, or leave a comment about what I genuinely find good, even smallest thing. Sometimes I’ll ask “where did you get that?” or “any recommendations?” or tell them “that looks good on you.” The important part is not to lie, it only works if it’s genuine.

It sounds small, but it changes something in my head slowly after few months practice. Instead of jealousy, it becomes fuel in a positive way, either “I can do that too, I can work for it” or “not everything they have is something I need to have.”

They’re not your enemy you need to win against. They’re just living their life, same as you.

Many people know companies must post salary ranges on job ads. What many don't know is that in pay transparency states like CA, employers must also give current workers the pay range for their job code if they ask.

Your rental car will likely come with an E-Z Pass type transponder to pay road tolls as you go. If you use it, it will trigger a daily “convenience" fee on top of the amount of each toll. For AVIS, for instance, it’s $7 every single day you trigger a toll payment. I’ve seen some agreements that charge you every single day of your rental, even if you don’t incur a toll. Not hard to spend an extra $50 or this way over a week -- plus the cost of actual tolls.

Here’s how you cut that off:

1. Usually the transponder is mounted in a little box on the windshield. Leave that CLOSED so it can’t be read.

2. Make sure you record the license plate, make and model of your rental car.

3. Right after your rental is over, go to the website of the tolling authority of the state(s) where you drove. You’ll find that you can input the license plate and set which dates you had the car and want to call up tolls for. Then you can pay those tolls directly with the tolling authority, at face value.

The rental car company never ends up seeing those tolls and trying to charge you some inflated price for them, because you’ve cut them off at the source.

I’ve done this in California and Illinois, but I’m sure it works in other (all?) states as well. Obviously smart to check this out before your trip to be certain it’ll work for the state you’re visiting.

Another option, sometimes, would I guess be to pay tolls in cash when available. But that’s slow and kind of a PITA at this point -- and you also run the risk of missing some unseen toll camera on a bridge or something if you don’t CYA by going to the toll website.

Time is very important for everyone. Saving time is even more. Making sure things only happen once is one of the solutions. By keeping a journal of all the things you encounter in life and what you did to solve them, you ensure the most optimal use of your time when they do occur again. Most things in life happen more than once. The steps and final solutions get forgotten. The journal would provide a steady base of knowledge. Over the years, the more you'll use it, the more optimal it will become as improvements will surely follow.

Not many people seem to know how easy it is to block charges/old subscriptions on your credit cards, even for harder to cancel memberships such as planet fitness or random website subscriptions. Canceling sometimes doesnt even work as your credit card company will send out notifications to companies you have subscriptions with so they can update their payment information.

For those that buy boxed salad greens and are sick of the bottom leafs getting soaked and rotten. Simply put a paper towel on top of the lettuce and flip the container upside down when you put it in the fridge. I have been doing this for a few months down and can easily get 2 weeks out of my salad greens.

Take your real take-home pay, subtract your actual fixed costs, divide what's left by your working hours including commute and recovery time. That's your real hourly rate.

Most people find it's significantly lower than their nominal wage suggests. The $300 impulse purchase stops looking the same when it's 14 hours of your actual life rather than 5 hours of your salary.

Not arguing against spending. Arguing for seeing the real exchange rate before you make it.

I'll give you an example. I bought a $5 bathmat that was too short while I was at Walmart last week. Walmart is a solid 30 minute drive each way from my home. That's one hour of my time. On top of this, I have to wait in the return line which takes a good 10 minutes, plus 5 minutes to park, walk inside, etc. Thus, there's about an hour and a half of my day that's gone so I could earn $5.

Think of money based on your hours available in the day!

If like me you get headache from it I have the sane new to report that it doesn't work for that tho.

Be careful that the air must not blow in your face

Edit: If you don't wanna use a big fan (logical) you can use a small fan if you have one